The Dog Ate My Homework
So I do have a good reason for my extended absence. Crunchy Daddy herniated a disc in his back over a month ago and worsened the injury about two weeks back. Since then he’s been home and in bed, unable to do much other than contemplate the merits of Vicodin. Consequently, my mommy workload has increased significantly and I’m having to take my own little short-term disability leave while he recuperates. I’m not sure when I’ll be able to pop back in. I do have lots to share but for now I’m just putting it all on the back burner. Thank you for understanding.
Published by crunchymama on June 20th, 2008 tagged stress, healthy family | Comment now »
Kombucha, Kefir, and Sprouts, Oh My!
My kitchen is beginning to look a wee bit like a science lab, but I’m having fun so I thought that I’d share some of my latest adventures with all of you. As I mentioned a bit ago, I got a bug in my bonnet about kombucha and then was gifted with a nice healthy SCOBY. That was all that I needed to get myself going (well, that and the organic green tea and organic sugar that I snagged from Trader Joe’s, along with this lovely 1-gallon glass jar
I made my first green tea kombucha brew last week. I poured it off on day seven (I couldn’t wait any longer) and then bottled it in some old glass bottles, adding 5% organic cranberry juice along with the kombucha in each bottle. Then I set the bottles out at room temperature for a second ferment for two days. The second ferment really amped up the fizz in the kombucha, and I just enjoyed my first glass over ice mere moments ago. It’s a pretty spot-on taste match for the raspberry flavored GT’s Synergy kombucha (although not having tried GT’s cranberry, I would assume that it tastes like that too). I could not be more thrilled, and I already have kombucha batch #2 underway, this time using a blend of organic green tea and organic rooibos tea to play around with the flavor profile and caffeine content. I’m already thinking that I’m going to have to start brewing more than one gallon at a time though since Crunchy Daddy and I will both need to ration this batch while we wait on the other batch to percolate. In the meantime, I have tucked my kombucha mother away in the fridge for safe keeping and the new baby is spearheading the second batch. When that brew is done, the resulting baby SCOBY is being traded away to some nice lady nearby in exchange for some milk kefir grains. I’m still on the prowl for some water kefir grains in my endless quest to heal Emma’s gut, but Crunchy Daddy and I can be the guinea pigs for the dairy kefir while I get better acquainted with the world of homemade kefir. My home-grown SCOBY is still chugging away. The process of growing one takes a while but I’ll post about it when I wrap up the experiment. In the meantime, some pics:
Once I’ve gotten a better handle on kombucha and kefir, I plan to delve more into the world of soaking and sprouting grains and making the most perfectly gelatinous bone broth. One of the moms at school handed me a guide on sprouting at the end of the year picnic today, so I’l have to give that a read. The bone broth shouldn’t be too difficult to master, but I want to make sure that I’m using good bones, which brings me back to the whole buying a cow thing. I have to make a couple calls this afternoon, but I think that I have it narrowed down to two places. Once I have that all settled, I’ll post a bit about the cow buying process. I’m also counting down the days (thirteen) until our first CSA pickup of the season. I have some grand plans for culturing many of the veggies that we receive throughout the season, so I’m trying to learn all about that too. I’m still a bit sad that we won’t be doing an actual farm pickup with this year’s CSA, but to compensate for the missing farm experience, we have significantly expanded our container garden this year. Last year we grew two cherry tomato plants. This year, we are looking at six tomato plants, a dozen strawberry plants, 8-10 varieties of herbs (depending on when/if I stop planting more), and some sugar snap peas. I was delighted to see that some of the big box garden centers by us had organic plants including herbs, peppers, and tomatoes. One store even had organic heirloom tomatoes, I was so thrilled.
Other recent developments of note, CRUNCHY DADDY GAVE UP COFFEE!!!!! Oh, did I shout that? Sorry, but it’s a rather Earth-shaking event as Crunchy Daddy has been a serious coffee addict for many years now. He finally decided that he felt horribly enough to think about trying a new approach to his general health and well-being so he gave up coffee cold turkey and now we both start our mornings with an amped up green superfood
Whew, so that’s some of what has been keeping us busy. What’s doing with all of you?
Oh, P.S. to the person who found us today after searching for “are there vegetarian and allergy friendly dye free popsicles?” We stock the freezer in the summer with these and these. I think that they’d fit that criteria for you, and they’re yummy. We provided a box for the camp freezer last summer for Emma to eat at the end of the day when all of the other kids were having those glow-stick freeze pops.
Published by crunchymama on June 6th, 2008 tagged alternative healthcare, healthy eating, crunchy parenting, healthy family | 6 Comments »
Warning: Ranting and Raving from a Grumpy Blogger
So I’ve been sharing my life with you all for over a year now. I try to provide a mix of information that is useful, motivating, personal, and original. All of the work is done pro bono. I have yet to receive a check for my site from anyone anywhere (well, I think we may have gotten $13 from Google ads at some point, but that won’t send the girls to college and isn’t what I would normally charge over the course of a year). I take time out of my day when I could (should) be cleaning my house or crafting or playing with the girls or whatever else to write and post. I do it because it gives me a sense of purpose. I hope that what I write saves you money, makes you think, inspires you to make a small change to better your life or our planet, or helps you to learn something new.
I’m flattered that some of you derive benefit and inspiration from my words and find some of my terminology to be witty, but I am offended when folks (and I hope that you know who you are because I certainly do) steal my work or my words. Writing nearly identical blog postings on your own blogs after reading something here without giving appropriate credit in the form of a link back to the post of mine that inspired yours is just not right. Moreover, in the event that some of you did not realize, it is also not okay to cut and paste a post of mine in its entirety on your blog without my permission even if you say something like, “Crunchy Parent wrote this great post, but to save you the trouble of actually clicking a link over to her blog to read it, I’ll reprint the whole thing here for you to read on my blog.” It’s just not cool people and it’s starting to get under my skin. If you’re fresh out of ideas for content and find my writing to be so symbiotic with your interests, contact me and I’m sure that we can work out an agreement for me to be a guest writer on your site. I’ll even link to the post from here. If you think that my work is worth stealing, then it’s worth paying for. I can be contacted directly at crunchyparent at sbcglobal.net (no spam no spam). If you are not sufficiently motivated to do either of the above than I merely request that when you put fingers to keyboard to write you ask yourself, “Did this term/material/idea come to me by way of the copyrighted Crunchy Parent’s blog?” and if the answer is yes, then either credit it appropriately or don’t write it.
That’s it. Sorry for those who are feeling all squidgy and uncomfortable right now because I’m getting all grumpy, but trust me when I say that the camel’s back is broken and it is high time.
Published by crunchymama on May 31st, 2008 tagged gratitude, stress, media, life lessons | Comment now »
Barganic Alert: Huggalugs Baby Leg Warmers at Rock Bottom (Get ‘em Quick)
It looks like the warm weather is finally here, but goodness knows that a chill will creep back in before we know it. We’ve been big fans of baby leg warmers for the girls when we want to keep those little legs snug and covered. I also hear tell that they are a convenient at-home option for diaper-free babies whose parents practice elimination communication. Typically such products run around $12/pair, but this is your chance to stock up on Huggalugs brand baby leg warmers for a mere $4.20 per pair. The website KoolaKoalas.com is having a sale on Huggalugs products (leg warmers, bump huggers, and organic cotton t-shirts) as well as on a few other items like diaper bags. Today and tomorrow only you can also use the code DCREFER at checkout for an additional 30% off your entire purchase price including sale items. Shipping on leg warmers is pretty cheap too, and there are many cute styles for girls and boys as well as some great holiday designs. So there you have it. Go prepare those wee gams for fall, it will be here before you know it.
Published by crunchymama on May 30th, 2008 tagged cloth diapering, frugal living, Barganic Alert | Comment now »
Field Trip! (Waldorf School Style)
Remember how excited you used to get when school had a field trip? You got to ride the bus and go somewhere exciting. Of course, Emma will not let me forget that her school does not have any school buses, and she is forver trying to come up with circumstances that might warrant a school bus (”Mama, if a lot of kids from a Waldorf school lived close by each other in the same neighborhood then could their school get them a school bus?”) Nevertheless, now that spring is here many of the classes at Emma’s school have been taking field trips; not to the zoo or the museum mind you but to go camping at the local biodynamic organic farm (yes, just like I did in third grade). Anyway, the word on the street is that the preschoolers got a bit of field trip envy and were clamoring for a field trip of their own, so the teachers relented and scheduled a “field trip.” Parents and younger siblings were welcome to join the group as we walked through the field behind the school and over to a nearby park. We packed snacks and had a little picnic on blankets spread on the grass and the kids felt that the whole thing was very special.
The field trip was fun for me for a number of reasons. Last fall, the group of moms got to bond as we attended class together with our children before transitioning away from the classroom when our kids were comfortable to take on preschool on their own. Since then it’s been drop-off and then parents scatter to run errands, work out, or whatnot and I’ve missed being able to chat with the other moms and dads. Our field trip brought several of us back together again to talk and learn from one another while the kids happily played. I also loved the field trip because it was the first time that parents were providing snack for their own children at school. Typically the teachers prepare snack for the group of children to eat together, but for the field trip we were all brown-bagging it, and it was fun to take a peek at what everybody brought to enjoy.
People often marvel at what we do and do not feed the girls, as if by their nature children can only subsist on crunchy things pre-portioned into snack packs. Looking around at snack time made me feel so in my element and it was fantastic to see Emma intrigued by the healthy foods that her friends were enjoying. Emma, Bea, and I were chowing down on a fresh fruit salad, cucumber slices, and water. Naturally, Emma was flanked on either side by her two best school friends. One was eating some vegetarian brown rice sushi and a small orange tucked into her To-Go Ware
Beyond snack time, I got to talk with the other moms about a number of interesting topics. We talked about Brendan Brazier’s book, The Thrive Diet
In all it was a really nice opportunity for us to all enjoy a little fresh air, reconnect, and toss around ideas. When I picked Emma up from school today, her teacher presented me with a jar of fresh kombucha with a big healthy SCOBY floating around in it. Serendipitously I had just picked up my organic sugar and organic green tea this morning in preparation for my kombucha adventures, and now I can’t wait to get started (and to order water kefir grains, and culture veggies, and decide about that cow, and, and…).
So, when I have heart palpitations thinking about the cost of sending the girls to a private Waldorf school, I have to factor in the fringe benefits as well. I have learned so much and have become part of such a supportive community that nourishes my family’s health and learning in a way that it not easy to find just walking around in life. That’s gotta be worth something, even if there is no school bus.
Published by crunchymama on May 27th, 2008 tagged alternative healthcare, healthy eating, CSA, waldorf, gardening, family fun, crunchy parenting | 2 Comments »
Time for a Kitchen Overhaul: Cast Iron In, Nonstick Out
I can’t really justify why I have been dragging my feet so long on this issue. I’ve known that nonstick pans are a health concern for a number of years now, yet I’ve merely tucked the information in the back of my brain and continued to use our Calphalon Everyday Pans well, every day. For those of you who may be less aware of the controversy surrounding nonstick cookware, the issue is seemingly twofold; the vapors emitted when nonstick cookware is heated over a certain temperature are toxic, and the material that bonds the teflon coating to the pans (PFOA) may flake off in teeny tiny pieces and be ingested with the cooked food. PFOA is carcinogenic and has been linked to birth defects, low birth weight, and may damage one’s immune system. For a more thorough review of the potential dangers of nonstick cookware, look here. Please note that the article closes with suggestions for using nonstick cookware safely like “keep pet birds out of the kitchen.” So that they don’t die. From the toxic fumes. Of the cookware that you are using safely. Well, I guess that’s nice for the birds.
Anyway, back to the ridiculous reason why I’ve known this for years and have continued to use nonstick cookware. Um, because I didn’t really know what else to use or how to use it and the idea of seasoning cast iron intimidated me. See, I told you that it was ridiculous. So it seemed high time for me to stop resisting cast iron. As it turns out, a little digging around in my basement revealed a beautiful, brand new cast iron wok that Crunchy Daddy and I had received for our wedding. So that made one pan. Unfortunately, Crunchy Daddy did not understand the care and washing instructions for cast iron so he washed it with lots of soap, but at least he didn’t leave it sitting in the sink soaking, so I think that it can be saved. Nevertheless, one wok is not going to take care of all of our crunchy cooking needs, which leaves me to do a little researching and a little shopping.
My first stop was Cooks Illustrated, which is my Consumer Reports for all things foodie. I remembered them reporting about cast iron a while back, and I also recalled that they had rated Lodge Pre-seasoned cast iron skillets as very high in performance, quality, and value. The Pre-seasoned part excited me to no end, and it seems that I’m not the only one. Lodge says here that they introduced the pre-seasoned line in 2002 and it currently represents 85% of their sales for cast iron. I’d say that the seasoning thing is what’s scaring off a lot of potential cast-iron buyers. We’ll get back to that, but first I’ll add that I was a bit dubious about the pre-seasoning process. I suspected that companies just sprayed the pans with some fancy “pre-seasoning” chemical or what not. I turns out that in some cases, I’m not far off. The good news is that Lodge pre-seasons their pans with vegetable oil, not paint. For those with corn allergies though, you might want to steer clear of pre-seasoned pans and use your own oil. That brings us back to seasoning though. It’s an important skill to have in the event that your pan needs a little freshening up (like my aforementioned wok). Here’s a good video that will help you with the seasoning process, and this one goes on to give some nice tips for cleaning and maintaining your cast iron.
So now I’m left with a question (or perhaps it’s a challenge). Do I go straight to Amazon and buy the nice, reasonably priced, pre-seasoned Lodge 
Published by crunchymama on May 16th, 2008 tagged healthy eating, cleaning, healthy home, crunchy parenting | 5 Comments »
What to Say When Asked to Play?: When Play Dates Come with Reservations
So I was picking Emma up from school today when one of the other mothers approached me and said that she would like to get on the calendar for some play dates with Emma and her son. I’d like to say that I immediately jumped in with an enthusiastic, “Yes!” but I didn’t. My initial thought was “Well, when on Earth can we fit that in?” Yes, despite the fact that Emma only goes to school three mornings per week, we are actually “booked” with school or appointments every morning of the week (Monday through Friday) and late afternoon two days a week. We also have to block off the afternoon hours for Bea’s nap and Emma’s “quiet time,” and be mindful of the girls’ need to eat dinner and go to bed at a reasonable hour. That leaves us with about an hour or so three afternoons a week, and that doesn’t make for a very open play date calender.
Now I know you’re thinking that I am betraying my crunchy roots by over-scheduling my children when they should be allowed ample free time to just play and just be. I think that idea is lovely in theory. I assure you that this collection of appointments (none of which are for me, by the way) are not for leisure activities, with the exception of Emma’s 30-minute ballet class. No, it appears that it takes a rather impressive team of professionals to keep the Crunchy family moving and growing in a positive direction, and thus we go to a lot of appointments, and have less free time than we would otherwise like.
So there’s the backstory on how we have no time for play dates, and now here’s the confession part….I couldn’t help but think that if in fact we did have time for play dates, this would not be the play date at the top of my list of ones to schedule. That is not to say that the family is not very nice, in fact they are. Emma and the little boy (we’ll call him “Max”) have been in class together for years, and the parents seem to be rather nice people who are very dedicated to their children. That said, in all of these years, Emma has never once, to my knowledge, played with or had any interest in playing with Max. For one thing, he’s a boy so there’s an automatic strike against him in Emma’s book, and not only is he a boy but he has two little brothers too, so the play date would be bursting with testosterone with only Emma and little Bea to provide some girly balance. Max also tends to be more vocal, animated, and aggressive in his play than Emma is comfortable with. It is not unusual for Emma to come home from school with stories of how she cried because she and her friends were playing kitties, and Max and some other children were being mean dogs and growling at them and scaring them, or how she and her friends were playing house and Max and his friends kept stealing heir babies and running off with them. In fact, when I mentioned to Emma on the way home from school that Max’s mom had asked me about arranging a play date for her and Max, her only response was, “Why?” It seemed like an appropriate question, so I started asking myself….why do I feel compelled to arrange a play date for my child in her already overstuffed schedule with a child whom she does not particularly like?
I guess that the short answer is that I want to be nice. Max’s mom went out on a limb asking us for a play date. We’ve never socialized outside of school in all of these years, and it must have been a bit uncomfortable for her to extend the invitation, I didn’t want to reject her outright. I also suspect that Max’s mother doesn’t have too many friends through the school or elsewhere in her community. Max’s family moved here from another country, and I empathize with how difficult it must be to have to rebuild your social support network when you are far from your family and friends, you are at home caring for children all day, and there are some language and cultural barriers to overcome. I also feel at times like I need to be a bit of an Attachment Parenting ambassador. Crunchy families aren’t that easy to come by, and I certainly want people to feel embraced by the community, especially when a lack of community “buy-in” means that they might walk away from our little school, which really needs to grow to remain viable into the future. But then again, just because someone breast feeds their children for years and attends a Waldorf school doesn’t necessarily mean that you (or those children) will have enough in common to foster a friendship, and it’s unrealistic to suggest that friendships should be forced. I worry about the extent to which I should be an advocate for Emma and screen out those play date requests that I don’t think are a good idea for whatever reason. In a way, I feel like I’m asking Emma to do something that I’m pretty confident that she won’t enjoy just to be “nice,” and I’m not sure if that’s the right message to be sending to her.
So where do I go from here? I told Mrs. Max that we are generally pretty booked, citing our impressive array of appointments, but that maybe we could work something out soon. Her boys don’t nap anymore except for an infant who’s still in that sleep anytime anywhere phase (don’t you miss those days?). I suppose that I could have them over here one afternoon while Bea is napping and Emma can just skip quiet time and we could hope for the best. Another option is that I could just have the spine to say that Emma doesn’t really get along very well with Max and that forcing them to have a play date seems unwise and unlikely to build any real lasting friendship, but I have trouble seeing myself as being that blunt (which is why I gave fake phone numbers to all those guys who ever asked rather than just saying, “No, I’d rather that you not call me.”). So what do you do when your child is asked to play and you aren’t so sure?
Published by crunchymama on May 7th, 2008 tagged stress, life lessons | 2 Comments »
I’m too Crunchy for Milan. Too Crunchy for Milan, New York, and Japan
So I’m finding myself engaged in a variety of activities these days that seem almost too crunchy to explain, which is why I haven’t been writing about them. Then I figure that what was too crunchy for me to even consider a few years back seems “normal” enough to me now that it’s worth thinking about, so I’ll just tell you about some of what I’ve been up to and maybe some day you’ll look back on this post and think that I might not have been a complete loon. If you know more than me, please educate me a bit. If you want to learn more, let me know and I’ll do my best to explain. If you think I’m off my rocker, join the club.
So, I’ve been devoting scads of time lately to making many crafty items to potentially sell at the May Faire at Emma’s school later this month. It’s a very sweet, Waldorfy, ribbon-filled event. My uber-crafty friend convinced me to set up a table next to hers so that we can have an excuse to finally spend a day chit-chatting and catching up (we never see one another now that our kids go to school on opposite days of the week). The house is slowly filling up with ribbon wands, flower wands, felted wool balls and playscapes, crowns, jingly ribbony things, and other bits of fun and wonder. I’ll try to take some pictures and show you what I’m able to finish prior to the event. I’m fairly convinced that nothing will actually sell at the Faire, but I’m having fun no less.
Crafts aside, I’ve also been spending time over the past month taking Emma to have her food allergies treated by a chiropractor using energy based treatments to unblock her meridians, (and yes, I know how ridiculous that sounds but I really don’t care if she can eat cheese blintzes and pizza again someday because she’s five and she deserves that). She’s been treated for food dyes, preservatives and additives, corn, and nuts thus far, which I guess is good since we didn’t even realize that she was allergic to nuts (oops). Her response to the treatments has been interesting. At times a treatment will wear her out and she’ll sleep the whole way home, other times a treatment will trigger a major behavioral meltdown which makes me hopeful that she may one day clear her food allergies and be less emotionally labile so that I can breathe again. Our small success has been Emma’s ability to eat popcorn several times over the past week without any significant behavioral upset (a feat that was not possible when we tried it out the week prior to her allergy treatment).
Not crunchy crazy enough for ya? Ok, well since I’m all riled up about Emma making strides in the food allergy arena, I’m also giving a lot of thought to gut health in general and how our bodies come to be all messed up if our guts get out of whack. Consequently, I’m trying to give myself a crash course in gut health and learn as much as I can about culturing foods. I think I’m just a stone’s throw away from having a cupboard full of bottles, jars, and tubs fermenting sour dough, kombucha, coconut water kefir, yogurt, and the like. I have to go find where I put my copy of Nourishing Traditions
Of course, since I’m planning on dairy allergies soon being a thing of the past, I also have to go rent a cow or something so that I have a source for raw dairy to make my yogurt and kefir at home so I’m looking into that as well. And since we’re on the subject of cows, I’m investigating sources for grass fed, pastured, organically raised beef. I am seriously considering crossing state lines to buy a fraction of a steer, and I sincerely hope that they don’t just cut the thing in half for you because my car just isn’t that big.
So there you have it. I wasn’t kidding. I am seriously too crunchy for this song. I hope that I haven’t scared you all off.
Published by crunchymama on May 2nd, 2008 tagged healthy eating, waldorf, crunchy parenting | 7 Comments »
My Feet Still Hurt and Other Reports from the All Things Organic Expo
Well, I do have to say that I enjoyed my day away from Mommying to attend the All Things Organic Expo on Sunday. It was a true banner day when I realized that since Bea and Emma were both staying home with Crunchy Daddy I wouldn’t even need to wear a nursing bra, can you imagine? We’re talking that kind of free wheeling day off from Mommying, although it did pull at my heartstrings when I spoke to Crunchy Daddy while on my way home and he said that Bea had been asking him for nursies ever since waking up from her nap (poor Bean).
Anyway, the show highlighted a myriad of intriguing and exciting products that I’ll talk about more as I try them out and see what I think of them. That said, I needed to periodically stop myself for a reality check as I cruised the organic aisles at the show. It’s clear that organic is the new consumer buzzword, and there were certainly products capitalizing on the organic=healthy misconception. I had to look past some beautiful packaging and fun concepts to remind myself that highly processed organic foods are still highly processed foods, albeit with fewer chemicals and pesticides, and are not necessarily healthy food options. Case in point was an organic bagged single-serving “juice” product from Honest Tea that was marketed to kids. The ingredients listed water and organic cane sugar as the first two ingredients, with a range of 6%-10% of the product being actual fruit juice. I respect the fact that the Honest Tea people avoided corn syrup, artificial colors, and the like but let’s not fool ourselves; this is not a healthy product for children.
I will say that there was a healthier and distinct new trend in the organic baby genre, specifically frozen organic baby food. When we attended the La Leche League conference last July, there were two vendors, Plum Organics and Happy Baby, who were presenting pureed frozen organic baby food products. This weekend’s expo added an additional two vendors, Tasty Baby and Bella Baby Foods to the mix of frozen organic baby food manufacturers; a group that includes at least another handful of companies with limited distribution across the U.S. and Canada (e.g., Mom Made Foods, Baby Cubes, Nummy Nums, and Healthy Sprouts). I honestly have no idea of the price point, and while I’m confident that it would still be more economical to make your own, I kept thinking that it sure would have made my life a lot easier when Emma was wee and in daycare and I was the crazy crunchy mama hauling in all of my own homemade organic baby food along with my bottles of expressed milk and bags of cloth diapers and wipes (yea, they loved me). There were nights when I would have gladly paid the price for the convenience of ready-made, preservative-free, tasty, organic baby food so that I could have spent my precious time pumping or sleeping rather than steaming, pureeing, and freezing ice cube trays full of organic fruits and veggies. Oh, and speaking of cloth dipes, Tender Tush Organic Diapers were also exhibiting at the show. I had not been familiar with their product before (as I have admittedly calmed my diaper obsession in the years since building up my primary stash,) but I was pleased to see such beautiful, soft, and yummy dipes made with high-quality materials and integrity. I came home with one to try, so I’ll give you the report according to Bea once I prewash the little beauty and work it into the rotation.
Other exciting finds from the show included a host of food-allergy friendly products ranging from raw food snack bars to cookies, and (huzzah!) not one, but two all-natural insecticide products to address the aforementioned ant problem that I’ve been experiencing in the kitchen as of late. I was also pleased to see a number of cultured dairy products being shown (cultured foods and beverages are about to become my newest obsession, in the event that you’ve been wondering), including not just yogurt and kefir, but cultured singe-serving organic cottage cheese cups, perfect for tucking in a lunch box. Oh, and as long as you’re tucking things into those lunch boxes, one of my favorite products from the show was a single-serving snack cup of multi-colored organic cherry tomatoes from Origin Organic Farms Inc. I thought that the product was brilliant with regard to promoting healthy, fresh, organic snack options for children.
Whew, so that’s my report in brief until I can go through all of the product literature that I amassed. The greatest take-away for me was the awareness that the marketplace is beginning to listen to consumer demands for healthier and more responsible products for our natural families and precious children (who are sweet enough without any added sugar). So, how was your weekend?
Published by crunchymama on April 29th, 2008 tagged healthy eating, organic, working parenting, gluten free, casein free, environment, crunchy parenting, healthy family | 1 Comment »
Thoughts of Spring
We have finally enjoyed some warmer weather and it seems as though we might actually see spring this year. The girls are loving the chance to play out in the back yard more, and I am endlessly being presented with freshly-picked dandelion bouquets (”To show you the beauty of the wonderful world, Mama.”) Crunchy Daddy has patiently endured my insistence that no chemical products be used on our lawn for several years now, which has resulted in an enviable supply of dandelions, if you happen to be five years old. Crunchy Daddy is slowly learning to embrace the idea that dandelions are at least pretty weeds as he searches out natural lawn care products that will be safe for our family. In fact, he’s embracing crunchy lawn care with such enthusiasm this year that he’s even been talking about retiring our gas-powered push mower in favor of a reel mower that would provide him with a nice upper-body workout while at the same time cutting down on toxic emissions. Emma offered to help him out by trimming the grass with a pair of scissors (now, why didn’t I think of that?). Of course, spring also brings along a mysterious trail of ants that dance around on my kitchen floor near the doors to the patio as they search for a stray piece of cat food. Thus far, our best solution has been sweeping the little buggers back out the doors with a broom. I can’t say that it’s a great solution, but it will have to do until I can come up with something better that doesn’t involve a can of poison. So I’m wondering, how are you all going to help make the world a little “greener” this spring?